News

Clara Chong and Philip Quast (Photo credit: John Slaytor).

One of first features to roll during the pandemic, Clara Chong and Ben Allan’s thriller Dark Noise has wrapped after an eventful shoot which spanned 28 days spread in blocks over 12 weeks.

The privately-financed production had to shut down for 48 hours while a team member who had mild symptoms on the Covid-19 list was isolated and tested. It was quickly established the team member had a common cold which did not spread to anyone else.

The producers faced another problem when actress Leah Vandenburg was trapped in Melbourne during the city’s second pandemic wave and could not travel to Sydney. So Maura Fay Casting speedily recast the role, with Renee Lim stepping in.

The producer and Dop, Allan tells If the disruption and Covid Safe protocols increased the budget by just 12 per cent.

Writer/director Chong said: “The biggest challenges...

Philip Quast and Hermione Norris in ‘Between Two Worlds’.

After creating five of Australia’s most popular dramas – Always Greener, All Saints, Packed to the Rafters, Winners & Losers and A Place to Call Home – in a stellar 37-year career, Bevan Lee felt he had reached a crossroad.

If he followed one path, he would simply rest on his laurels and be content with his legacy. The other, far more attractive and challenging option: Create a drama unlike anything he’d ever done and which breaks the traditional rules of the genre.

Hence was born Between Two Worlds, a 10-part Seven Studios production which premieres on Seven on Sunday.

The first episode depicts two disparate and seemingly disconnected worlds, typified by one family of extreme wealth and privilege, the other middleclass and suburban.

“I decided I wanted to do a twisty, turny narrative which breaks the rules,” says Lee, who created the show last year,...

Imogen Sage and Leah Vandenberg play a scene via Zoom.

Philip Quast, Steve Le Marquand and Sara Wiseman are among new additions to the cast of Dark Noise, Clara Chong and Ben Allan’s thriller which was among the first features to roll during the pandemic.

David E. Woodley and Craig Hall have also joined the production which is shooting in short blocks in the Sydney Cbd and in Sydney’s North-West, with a maximum of 10 cast and crew on set.

UK theatre actor Imogen Sage plays the lead, Abigail ‘Jack’ McFadden, a young woman who is alone in the forest listening for frogs when she hears something she shouldn’t have.

Lauren Clair is Jack’s mother Cassandra, with Leah Vandenberg as her father’s lover Dr Croker and Callan Colley as Constable Kristian Myangi.

Woodley is Cassandra’s former husband, scientist and conservationist Dr Donovan McFadden, and Le Marquand is Ollie Martin,...

‘Between Two Worlds.’

When James Warburton was appointed CEO of Seven West Media succeeding Tim Worner he vowed to revitalise the Seven Network’s entertainment programming, focusing primarily on Sunday-Thursday primetime.

Warburton looks like delivering on that promise next year with a raft of initiatives including refreshes for My Kitchen Rules and House Rules, Endemol Shine Australia’s action-drama Rfds and Cjz’s four-part investigation of the disappearance of British backpacker Peter Falconio.

The line-up includes Esa’s revival of Big Brother, Screentime’s endurance competition Sas: Who Dares Wins, Eureka Productions’ extreme mini-golf competition Mega Mini Golf and Seven Studios’ Plate of Origin, billed as the “Olympics of cooking.”

Fremantle and Eureka will co-produce a new version of Farmer Wants a Wife, a format which previously aired on the Nine Network, while Fremantle’s Australia’s Got Talent has been renewed for a second season.

“I’ve been clear...

‘Between Two Worlds’

The international sales campaign for Between Two Worlds, the Seven Studios drama created by Bevan Lee, kicks off this week at the Mipcom market in Cannes.

Entertainment One acquired the distribution rights to the series starring Cold Feet’s Hermione Norris, Philip Quast, Sara Wiseman and Aaron Jeffrey, in its first ever content deal with Seven Studios.

“Seven Studios is thrilled to partner with Entertainment One to take this extraordinary drama to the world,” CEO Therese Hegarty tells If.

“Between Two Worlds is a world class production by master storyteller Bevan Lee and we are looking forward to taking another fantastic Australian production to an international audience.”

The deal was brokered by Noel Hedges, eOne’s executive VP, acquisitions, international distribution, who said: “Between Two Worlds offers us a glimpse into the rare and privileged world of the super-rich and is a fantastically gripping saga presented by...

Therese Hegarty

Seven Studios has promoted Therese Hegarty to CEO and hired former Nine Network executive Andrew Backwell as director of production, responsible for non-scripted content.

As part of the reshuffle head of content sales Richard Henson moves up to director of content sales.

Formerly director, content distribution and rights, Hegarty’s promotion is a reward for the production division’s expansion, this year delivering the seventh consecutive growth in earnings before interest and tax.

Australia’s largest producer of long form premium content, Seven Studios last year produced more than 1,000 hours of content all genres, with 14 new commissions and more than 20 hit series returning or in production.

In the second half of last year, the division’s revenues from third-party sales jumped by 20 per cent to $45.7 million.

In March Seven launched non-scripted unit Seven Studios UK, strengthening its presence in that market and complementing its investment in London-based scripted specialists Slim Film + Television.

Megan Hajjar in ‘M4M’

Since graduating from Waapa in 2016 Megan Hajjar has built an impressive resume with roles in Breath, Love Child, The Secret Daughter, Harrow and the upcoming movies M4M and The Naked Wanderer.

You may not recognise the name because, until recently, she was known as Megan Smart. The actor has decided to use Hajjar, her mother’s maiden name, to more closely identify with her Lebanese heritage.

“I wasn’t being considered for some Middle Eastern roles because the producers did not recognise my heritage,” she tells If.

While she does play a Lebanese woman in Paul Ireland’s M4M, she mostly portrays characters whose nationality is incidental. For example, she had fun playing a serial killer named Charlotte in the ABC/Hoodlum Entertainment’s Harrow and troublemaker Anna Hennessy in Screentime/Seven’s The Secret Daughter.

In Alan Lindsay’s romantic comedy The Naked Wanderer...

Hermione Norris.

Best known for her roles in Cold Feet and Luther, Hermione Norris is playing the lead in Seven Studios’ drama Between Two Worlds.

Created by Bevan Lee, the series follows the English actress as Cate Walford, whose husband Phillip is a vicious, philandering business tycoon. With her marriage on the ropes, she is caught in a tangled web of lies and manipulation.

Through a shocking twist of fate, her world collides with the seemingly disparate and disconnected, warm and loving world of a widow and her footy star son and musical daughter.

Philip Quast plays Phillip with A Place to Call Home’s Sara Wiseman as the widow Sophia Grey. The cast includes Wentworth’s Aaron Jeffery as a football coach, Megan Hajjar as Sophia’s daughter Bella, Alex Cubis as her brother Danny, Tom Dalzell as the Walford’s son Bart and Melanie Jarnson as Bart’s girlfriend.

Natalie Dormer..

Game of Thrones star Natalie Dormer will play English headmistress Mrs. Hester Appleyard in Foxtel.s upcoming.Picnic at Hanging Rock miniseries..

FremantleMedia.s six-parter begins shooting later this month. Amanda Brotchie (Agony, This is Littleton, Lowdown).will direct alongside the previously announced Michael Rymer and Larysa Kondracki.

Brotchie joins after the Australian Directors' Guild criticised FremantleMedia over the import of Kondracki, a Canadian, to shoot the series.

In late December, following a protest staged by the Adg and Wift Nsw outside FremantleMedia.s Sydney office, the production company announced it would bring on an Aussie female director to shoot one episode.

Joining Dormer as the teachers of Appleyard College are.Yael Stone (Orange is the New Black), French actress Lola Bessis (Cassandra, Swim Little Fish Swim),.Anna McGahan (The Doctor Blake Mysteries, Anzac Girls) and Sibylla Budd (Tomorrow When The War Began, Winners & Losers).

Schoolgirls will be played by Lily Sullivan (Camp,...

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Australian comedy web-series.The Justice Lease.is returning a for second season after winning $70,000 at the Viewster Online Film Festival.

In 2013, Severe Comedy self funded series one of The Justice Lease, a six-part web series which focused on the daily domestic lives of Superman, Batman, The Hulk and Aquaman, set in a suburban Australian share-house.

Series one of.The Justice Lease.screened at Melbourne WebFest, La WebFest (winning eight awards) and was awarded a $70,000 cash prize in the inaugural Viewster Online Film Festival.

Since then, the creators have used that budget to create a five-part series, which will be launched on March 22 via YouTube..

Producer Erasmo Raimundo said the funding had allowed the team to create the kind of series envisioned at the beginning..

"An entirely over-dramatic comedy that both pokes fun at, and reveres, the superhero genre,. he said..

Director Jeremy Brull likes to think of it as cross...

Janet King season 2 begins production this week with Marta Dusseldorp reprising her lead role.

In the second series, King is seconded from the Dpp to lead a Royal Commission into a deadly upsurge in gun crime..

King is joined by conscripting solicitors Richard Stirling (Hamish Michael) and Lina Badir (Andrea Demetriades), and the ambitious Owen Mitchell (Damian Walshe-Howling) as Counsel Assisting.

With coercive powers Detective Andy Campbell (Christopher Morris) can only dream of, King and her team peel back the complex layers of intrigue underpinning the illicit trade in weapons..

Completing the cast are Peter Kowitz, Leah Purcell, Terry Serio, Philip Quast, Anita Hegh, Aaron Jeffrey, Genevieve Hegney, Nicholas Hope and Ewen Leslie.

The series is produced by Screentime, a Banijay Group company, and series produced by Karl Zwicky, produced by Lisa Scott, with Hilary Bonney and Marta Dusseldorp as associate producers, and Greg Haddrick as executive producer..

It is written by Haddrick,...

Lonny Price directs Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson in Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, A Musical Thriller, the first production in a major new long term partnership between English National Opera Eno and the GradeLinnit Company. Joining Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson who will lead the cast as Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett are Matthew Seadon-Young as Anthony Hope,Katie Hall as Johanna Barker, Philip Quast as Judge Turpin, Jack North as Tobias Ragg, Alex Gaumond as Beadle Bamford, Rosalie Craig as Beggar Woman and John Owen-Jones as Pirelli.

The New York Philharmonic's staged production of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street will be telecast nationally on Live From Lincoln Center, hosted by Audra McDonald, on PBS stations. The air date will be announced at a later time. The production, which opened last night and will run through March 8, 2014, stars bass-baritone Bryn Terfel in the title role and Academy Award-winning actress Emma Thompson as Mrs. Lovett in her Philharmonic debut, New York stage debut, and first time performing the role. Jeff Blumenkrantz portrays The Beadle Tony Award winner Christian Borle, Pirelli marking his Philharmonic debutKyle Brenn, Tobias Ragg debut Jay Armstrong Johnson,Anthony Hope debut Erin Mackey, Johanna debut and Olivier Award winner Philip Quast, Judge Turpin debut and New York stage debut. Music Director Alan Gilbert conducts, Grant Sturiale is the assistant conductor, Lonny Price directs, Lonny Price and Matt Cowart are the producers,...

This mostly pitch-perfect musical from the New York Philharmonic shows why it's time to put proper orchestras behind shows again

Staging musicals as concerts is a tricky business but the New York Philharmonic's production of Sweeney Todd, starring Emma Thompson and Bryn Terfel, is an energetic theatrical performance that manages to hit the right notes.

Making her New York stage debut as Mrs Lovett (a role originated by Angela Lansbury), Thompson runs off with the show. Her Mrs Lovett is shrewd, conniving and utterly in control of the operation until the final moments. Her voice is silky one moment, brassy the next; it helps that the role is perfect for an imperfect voice.

Thompson's partner in crime, however, could have asked her for a few acting tips. Terfel's intimidating bass-baritone is perfect for Sweeney Todd, and his 6ft 4in frame conveys menace, but Terfel's Sweeney comes across as a monster not a brute.

The New York Philharmonic's staged production of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street will be telecast nationally on Live From Lincoln Center, hosted by Audra McDonald, on PBS stations. The air date will be announced at a later time. The production, which opened last night and will run through March 8, 2014, stars bass-baritone Bryn Terfel in the title role and Academy Award-winning actress Emma Thompson as Mrs. Lovett in her Philharmonic debut, New York stage debut, and first time performing the role. Jeff Blumenkrantz portrays The Beadle Tony Award winner Christian Borle, Pirelli marking his Philharmonic debutKyle Brenn, Tobias Ragg debut Jay Armstrong Johnson,Anthony Hope debut Erin Mackey, Johanna debut and Olivier Award winner Philip Quast, Judge Turpin debut and New York stage debut. Music Director Alan Gilbertconducts, Grant Sturiale is the assistant conductor, Lonny Price directs, Lonny Price and Matt Cowart are the producers,...

The New York Philharmonic's staged production of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street will be telecast nationally on Live From Lincoln Center, hosted by Audra McDonald, on PBS stations. The air date will be announced at a later time. The production, which opened last night and will run through March 8, 2014, stars bass-baritone Bryn Terfel in the title role and Academy Award-winning actressEmma Thompson as Mrs. Lovett in her Philharmonic debut, New York stage debut, and first time performing the role. Jeff Blumenkrantz will portray The Beadle Tony Award winnerChristian Borle, Pirelli marking his Philharmonic debutKyle Brenn, Tobias Ragg debut Jay Armstrong Johnson,Anthony Hope debut Erin Mackey, Johanna debut and Olivier Award winner Philip Quast, Judge Turpin debut and New York stage debut. Music Director Alan Gilbert will conduct, Grant Sturiale is the assistant conductor, Lonny Price will direct, Lonny Price...

The New York Philharmonic's staged production of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street will be telecast nationally on Live From Lincoln Center, hosted by Audra McDonald, on PBS stations. The air date will be announced at a later time. The production, which opened last night and will run through March 8, 2014, stars bass-baritone Bryn Terfel in the title role and Academy Award-winning actressEmma Thompson as Mrs. Lovett in her Philharmonic debut, New York stage debut, and first time performing the role. Jeff Blumenkrantz will portray The Beadle Tony Award winnerChristian Borle, Pirelli marking his Philharmonic debut Kyle Brenn, Tobias Ragg debut Jay Armstrong Johnson,Anthony Hope debut Erin Mackey, Johanna debut and Olivier Award winner Philip Quast, Judge Turpin debut and New York stage debut. Music Director Alan Gilbert will conduct, Grant Sturiale is the assistant conductor, Lonny Price will direct, Lonny Price...

The New York Philharmonic will soon present a staged production of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, March 5-8, 2014. As previously announced, Sweeney Todd will star bass-baritone Bryn Terfel in the title role and Academy Award-winning actress Emma Thompson as Mrs. Lovett in her Philharmonic debut, New York stage debut, and first time performing the role. Jeff Blumenkrantz will portray The Beadle Tony Award winner Christian Borle, Pirelli marking his Philharmonic debut Kyle Brenn, Tobias Ragg debut Jay Armstrong Johnson, Anthony Hope debut Erin Mackey, Johanna debut and Olivier Award winner Philip Quast, Judge Turpin debut and New York stage debut. Music Director Alan Gilbert will conduct Lonny Price will direct and Lonny Price and Matt Cowart are the producers.BroadwayWorld brings you photos of the cast in rehearsal below...

The New York Philharmonic has announced several additions to the cast of its staged production of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, March 5-8, 2014 Jeff Blumenkrantz will portray The Beadle Tony Award winner Christian Borle, Pirelli marking his Philharmonic debut Kyle Brenn, Tobias Ragg debut Jay Armstrong Johnson, Anthony Hope debut Erin Mackey, Johanna debut and Olivier Award winner Philip Quast, Judge Turpin debut and New York stage debut. As previously announced, Sweeney Todd will star bass-baritone Bryn Terfel in the title role and Academy Award-winning actress Emma Thompson as Mrs. Lovett in her Philharmonic debut, New York stage debut, and first time performing the role. Music Director Alan Gilbert will conduct, Lonny Price will direct, and Lonny Price and Matt Cowart are the producers.

When Philip Quast accepted the role of Artist in Residence at the National Institute of Dramatic Art this year, he had a dual motive.

The first was to impart as much knowledge as he could to his students, drawing on nearly 35 years as an actor in stage, film and television. The second was to learn more about the mindset and motivations of aspiring young actors and directors.

.As older artists we have not necessarily come to terms with the fact that, for us, language revolves around form while for the younger generation it revolves around function, .said Quast, who graduated from Nida in 1979.

.Shakespeare is not being taught properly in schools any more, grammar is not being taught in the same way. Younger people tend not to ask questions because the answers are already being given on things like Facebook.

.Yet the students at Nida learn much faster than we...

The exodus of actors from International Casting Services (Ics) continues as the agency founded 52 years ago by the late Gloria Payten prepares to shut its doors.

This week Cameron.s Management announced David Roberts and Jennifer Hagan had joined its agency after earlier signing Drew Forsythe.

Lisa Mann Creative Management (Lmcm) confirmed it is now representing former Ics clients Alycia Debnam-Carey, Christie Whelan Browne, Sophie Ross and Justin Cotta.

Linsten Morris Management has signed Dee Smart and her daughter Charlie Hancock.

Melina McKenna, who was a senior agent at Ics, joined Lmcm on June 4, and Martin Sacks, Kris McQuade, Helen Dallimore, Erica Lovell, Jo Turner, Nick Simpson-Deeks, Edmund Lembke-Hogan, Kip Gamblin and Nathan O.Keefe crossed from Ics to Lmcm.

As If reported previously, Rachel Blake, John Batchelor and Tony Martin subsequently joined Rgm, John Waters signed with Marquee and Debra Lawrance went to Creative Representation.

After McKenna departed Pauline Lee,...

One of Australia.s longest-established talent agencies, International Casting Services (Ics), is closing its doors.

Other agents expressed sadness and surprise that the agency founded by the late Gloria Payten in 1961 is going out of business.

Ics represented dozens of Australian artists working in film, television, theatre, radio and commercial media platforms. Its creatives department looked after choreographers, cinematographers, designers, directors and writers while Ics Voices provided talent for TV and radio commercials, documentaries, corporate presentations, book readings and business events.

According to the agency.s website its roster included Jacki Weaver (who now works mostly in the Us, where she.s repped by ICM Partners, Elevate Entertainment and Felker Tocezk), Kris McQuade, John Waters, Martin Sacks, Rachel Blake, Helen Morse, Drew Forsythe, John Gaden, Tony Martin, Philip Quast, Debra Lawrance and Lorna Lesley.

Word of Ics.s demise spread on Monday after the Darlinghurst-based agency sent emails to its clients advising of the closure,...

Now that Jack Davenport ("Smash") and Stephen Moyer ("True Blood") are bigger stars, a Collectors Edition DVD set of British miniseries "Ultraviolet" is on its way April 22nd, and we have all the details and a look at the artwork right here.

From the Press Release:

Dark forces are at work in "Ultraviolet," the gripping modern-day vampire drama which comes to DVD courtesy of Mediumrare Entertainment.

Starring "Smash"’s Jack Davenport and "True Blood"’s Stephen Moyer, "Ultraviolet" aired on Channel 4 to rave reviews in the late 1990s, and it will be available on DVD on 22 April 2013. "Ultraviolet" brings the world of vampires bang up-to-date as it follows the exploits of a covert government unit that must track down and destroy Code 5 infected subjects.

Detective Sergeant Michael Colefield (Davenport) is unwittingly thrust into the nightmarish world of vampires when his best friend Jack (Moyer) disappears on the eve of...

We start the Top 7. You finish the Top 10.

Oscar nominations are right around the corner (January 10), so I thought I’d use the opportunity to highlight some people I really hope get nominated. It would be easy to make this an overall list of things I want to happen – basically Les Misérables and Django Unchained for everything (it was a very merry Christmas, indeed) – but I wanted to narrow it down a bit more. While there are a lot of Oscar veterans in the running for nominations, I’ll be focusing on some folks who are vying for their first.

Now, to keep it somewhat manageable I’ll only be including people who have some modicum of hope, however slim at this late stage. Take Quvenzhané Wallis from Beasts of the Southern Wild. She still has a real shot, so she might be on here (spoiler alert: she is not...

Les Misérables

Directed by: Tom Hooper

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway

Rating: Not Yet Rated

Release Date: December 14, 2012

Trailer Score: 10/10

Thoughts by Tsr: Thanks in large part to Anne Hathaway’s performance of “I Dreamed a Dream” – it’s not technically perfect, but recording the songs live helps make the vocals incredibly raw and powerful – I had chills for the entirety of this trailer. But the images the music plays over are just as striking, from the shot of Hathaway’s Fantine getting her hair chopped off to the sweeping shots of the barricade. It seems impossible that the film will be able to maintain this level of emotion, but based on the source material and the talent involved, I have faith that Les Misérables is going to be something great.

Despite angering some by defeating David Fincher at the Oscars a couple years ago, Tom Hooper really...

This week, we’re checking out nine new home video releases on Blu-ray, with Super 8 topping our list of picks for film and Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series shining bright for TV. Check out the complete rundown of titles, including animated holiday picks as well as Anime titles. Which Blu-rays are you picking up for the week of Black Friday? Super 8 (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy) Starring Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Joel Courtney, Ryan Lee, Zach Mills Conan the Barbarian (Two-Disc Combo: Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / DVD) Starring Jason Momoa, Ron Perlman Prep and Landing Sarah’s Key Starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Niels Arestrup Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series Starring Matt Smith and Karen Gillan The Devil’s Double Starring Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier, Raad Rawi, Philip Quast, Mimoun Oaïssa Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas Special Three Amigos Fairy Tail: Part 1 For more Black Friday deals visit.

Dominic Cooper does double duty as both the mad Uday Hussein and his thoughtful doppelganger and shines in both capacities. The comparisons to Scarface are both superfluous and well deserved or am I being two-faced? Iraqi army officer Latif Yahia (Dominic Cooper) is brought to the presidential palace in Baghdad. Uday Hussein, Saddam.s (Philip Quast) eldest son and heir apparent, has chosen Latif to be his body double. After being tortured and threatened to take the job, Latif finds himself in both the lap of luxury and the lair of a madman. He soon develops a relationship with Sarrab (Ludivine Sagnier), one of Uday.s .concubines.. If the possessive Uday found out about this dalliance he would certainly...

Release Date: Nov. 22, 2011

Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.99

Studio: Lionsgate

Dominic Cooper goes the "Scarface" route in The Devil's Double.

Rising star Dominic Cooper (An Education) stars in a dual role in The Devil’s Double, a biographical action-drama film about life in the world of notorious Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as seen through the eyes of the man who was forced to become the double of Hussein’s son Uday Hussein.

Back in the late 1980s and 1990s, Baghdad, Iraq was a decadent and dangerous playground for Uday Hussein (Cooper). Uday fueled his Caligula-like lust for debauchery and immorality by helping himself to whatever or whoever he wanted. Into this world arrives Iraqi army lieutenant Latif Yahia (also Cooper), who is commanded to become Uday’s ‘fiday’—his body double—or have his family condemned to death. Undergoing plastic surgery and dental work to enhance his resemblance to Uday, Latif is...

The Pathe Tuschinski Theatre hosted a "Golden Gala" for the film The Devil's Double. Several cast members were in attendance including Dominic Cooper, Mem Ferda, Raad Rawi and Mimoun Oaissa. Also, the biographer Latif Yahia, on whom The Devil's Double is based, was in attendance with writer Michael Thomas. The event was golden in theme, with some of the events matching the glamorous moments of the film, as noted by actor Ferda: "of all the premieres I have attended this has truly been the most spectacular."

The Pathe Tuschinski Theatre is located in Amsterdam and this event was held September 5th. Organizers of the event included Corrino Media Group, Corsan, Staccato and A-Film. The event was a huge success as seen by the photos in the slideshow below. Enjoy the red carpet glamour of The Devil's Double, which is in theatres now.

The synopsis for the film is here:

"Bagdad,...

The Devil’s Double

Written by Michael Thomas

Directed by Lee Tamahori

Belgium, 2011

Make no mistake about it. The Devil’s Double is worth seeing in theatres, if for nothing else than to see Dominic Cooper’s tour de force dual performance. Nothing previously in Cooper’s filmography could have prepared us for the work he does here. In his first starring role, he makes both Hussein and Yahia into complex and very different characters. The movie surrounding him is very good, although it unfortunately loses its way in the final twenty minutes when it decides to enter pure thriller mode.

Many tales have emerged from Iraq during the time of the Gulf War. Many people have claimed to have known Saddam Hussein, and there are many tales of survival from Iraqis who have escaped Saddam’s Iraq when they could. Lee Tamahori’s film tells the “true” story of Latif Yahia,...

*Mem is now due to attend the United Kingdom Premiere at the Vue Cinema in London’s Leicester Square on Monday August 1st 2011

The Devil's Double had a Red Carpet premiere in New York July 25th and this thriller has also released in other cities across North America since July 29th. At the New York star studded event, both cast and crew were in attendance. As seen in the photos here and below, actor Mem Ferda, who plays Kamel Hannah, made an appearance along with lead actor Dominic Cooper. Many other stars of film and media were in attendance, which included Helen Mirren.

The Devil's Double is a biography of Latif Yahia's experience as a body double to Uday Hussein, Saddam Hussein's crazy, psychotic son. Latif is played by Dominic, while Ferda plays Kamel Hannah, Saddam's Hussein's best friend, body guard and food taster. This film covers the...

Title: The Devil’s Double Directed By: Lee Tamahori Starring: Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier, Philip Quast, Nasser Memarzia, Raad Rawi The Devil’s Double has two things going for it, it’s inherently fascinating to watch one man play two roles in the same movie and it claims to be “the real story of the man who was forced to become the double of Saddam Hussein’s sadistic son.” If this is really exactly how things went down for this man, the movie’s a worthwhile watch for that reason alone, to get an inside look. Too bad this inside look doesn’t make the true tale as rousing as it could have been. Dominic Cooper...

Chicago – In our latest dramatic biography edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 30 admit-two passes up for grabs to the advance Chicago screening of the new film “The Devil’s Double” starring Dominic Cooper as the man who was forced to become the double of Saddam Hussein’s sadistic son!

Based on a true story, “The Devil’s Double” also stars Ludivine Sagnier, Raad Rawi, Philip Quast, Mem Ferda, Dar Salim, Khalid Laith, Pano Masti and Nasser Memarzia from director Lee Tamahori and writer Michael Thomas based on the novel by Latif Yahia.

The film opens in Chicago on Aug. 5, 2011. To win your free pass to the advance Chicago screening of “The Devil’s Double” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just answer our question below. That’s it! This screening is on Monday, Aug. 1, 2011 at 7 p.m. in downtown Chicago. Directions to enter this Hookup and win can be found beneath the graphic below.

Lakeshore Records has announced two new soundtrack albums to be released later this summer. Coming up in July is the soundtrack for the drama The Devil’s Double. The film’s score is composed by Christian Henson (Severance, Black Death, Chasing Liberty). No word yet on the album’s contents, but details should be announced within the next couple of weeks. The Devil’s Double stars Dominic Cooper as an Iraqi who is forced to act as a body double for Uday Hussein (also played by Cooper), the son of Iraqi dictator Sadam Hussein. Ludivine Sagnier and Philip Quast are co-starring. The film is directed by Lee Tamahori who has previously worked with a number of top film composers including Jerry Goldsmith (The Edge, Along Came a Spider), David Arnold (Die Another Day), Marco Beltrami (xXx: State of the Union), Mark Isham (Next) and Dave Grusin (Mulholland Falls). The Devil...

Here’s the first trailer for The Devil’s Double, a true story that takes place in Iraq under Saddam Hussein’s leadership. The story, though true, has several similarities to the myriad of Man in the Iron Mask tales that have been adapted over the years, most notably by Alexandre Dumas in the Three Musketeers saga.

The Devil’s Double is Directed by Lee Tamahori and Stars Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier, Raad Rawi, Philip Quast, Mimoun Oaissa, Khalid Laith, Dar Salim, and Nasser Memarzia.

Story

Based on a gripping, unbelievable true story of money, power and opulent decadence, Lionsgate’s The Devil’S Double takes a white-knuckle ride deep into the lawless playground of excess and violence known as Bagdad, 1987. Summoned from the frontline to Saddam Hussein’s palace, Iraqi army lieutenant Latif Yahia (Dominic Cooper) is thrust into the highest echelons of the “royal family” when he’s...

Sneak Peek the new poster supporting Liongate's upcoming R-rated dramatic thriller "The Devil's Double", directed by Lee Tamahori ("Die Another Day"), starring Dominic Cooper, Philip Quast Ludivine Sagnier and Raad Rawi :

"...Based on a true story, 'The Devil's Double' takes a white-knuckle ride deep into the lawless playground of excess and violence known as Bagdad, 1987. Summoned from the frontline to Saddam Hussein's palace, Iraqi army lieutenant 'Latif Yahia' (Cooper) is thrust into the highest echelons of the 'royal family' when he's ordered to become the 'fiday' - or body double - to Saddam's son, the notorious 'Black Prince' 'Uday Hussein' (Cooper), a reckless, sadistic party-boy with a rabid hunger for sex and brutality.

"With his and his family's lives at stake, Latif must surrender his former self forever as he learns to walk, talk and act like Uday. But nothing could have prepared him...

A trailer has been released for Lee Tamahori’s The Devil’s Double, starring Dominic Cooper,Ludivine Sangier, Raad Rawi, Dar Salim, and Philip Quast. Here is the official plot synopsis:

Summoned from the frontline to Saddam Hussein’s palace, Iraqi army lieutenant Latif Yahia is thrust into the highest echelons of the “royal family” when he’s ordered to become the ‘fiday’ — or body double — to Saddam’s son, the notorious “Black Prince” Uday Hussein, a reckless, sadistic party-boy with a rabid hunger for sex and brutality. With his and his family’s lives at stake, Latif must surrender his former self forever as he learns to walk, talk and act like Uday. But nothing could have prepared him for the horror of the Black Prince’s psychotic, drug-addled life of fast cars, easy women and impulsive violence. With one wrong move costing him his life, Latif forges an intimate bond with Sarrab,...

It’s been a little longer than we thought, but after a side trip to Sundance and some good reviews, Iraq drama The Devil’s Double is finally on track for release. And now the trailer has arrived, which can be watched below.Starring Tamara Drewe’s Dominic Copper in the dual lead roles, Double unspools the crazed true story of Latif Yahida, an army lieutenant plucked from the ranks because of his close resemblance to Saddam Hussein’s son, Uday.Yahida was selected to become Uday’s body double, positioned to throw off attackers and to stand in for him at certain events. Given a choice between complying or seeing his family slaughtered, Yahida agreed and was thrust into Uday’s debauched world of power, greed, lust and madness. Soon he’s desperate to escape, but caught up in the Hussein world.Take a look at the trailer and let us know your thoughts.

Here's the trailer for The Devil's Double, the movie with the utterly ridiculous poster that we showed you last week. You know, the one that looked sort of like the unholy union of Piss Christ and Scarface. The trailer isn't quite as batshit crazy as the poster, but it's still pretty nuts. It features Dominic Cooper as Uday Hussein (Saddam's son), as well as his hired double, Latif Yahia, and is a study in corruption and decadence. It co-stars the knee-shakingly lovely Ludivine Sagnier,and Australian actor Philip Quast as Saddam Hussein.

For those of you counting, that's a French woman, an Australian and a Brit, all playing Iraqis. It's like a nonmagical Last Airbender up in this bitch.

Anyway, the trailer looks like the film has the potential to be manic, frenzied, opulent fun. Perhaps most promising is the fact that it's directed by Lee Tamahori (Once Were Warriors). Oh,...

The Devil’s Double Movie Trailer has premiered. Lee Tamahori‘s The Devil’s Double (2011) stars Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sangier, Raad Rawi, Dar Salim, and Philip Quast. The Devil’s Double (2011)’s plot synopsis: “Based on a gripping, unbelievable true story of money, power and opulent decadence, Lionsgate’s The Devil’S Double takes a white-knuckle ride deep into the lawless playground of excess and violence known as Bagdad, 1987. Summoned from the frontline to Saddam Hussein’s palace, Iraqi army lieutenant Latif Yahia (Dominic Cooper) is thrust into the highest echelons of the “royal family” when he’s ordered to become the ‘fiday’ – or body double – to Saddam’s son, the notorious “Black Prince” Uday Hussein (also Dominic Cooper), a reckless, sadistic party-boy with a rabid hunger for sex and brutality. With his and his family’s lives at stake, Latif must surrender his former self forever as he learns to walk,...

The Devil’s Double Movie Poster has premiered. Lee Tamahori‘s The Devil’s Double (2011) stars Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sangier, Raad Rawi, Dar Salim, and Philip Quast. The Devil’s Double (2011)’s plot synopsis: “Based on a gripping, unbelievable true story of money, power and opulent decadence, Lionsgate’s The Devil’S Double takes a white-knuckle ride deep into the lawless playground of excess and violence known as Bagdad, 1987. Summoned from the frontline to Saddam Hussein’s palace, Iraqi army lieutenant Latif Yahia (Dominic Cooper) is thrust into the highest echelons of the “royal family” when he’s ordered to become the ‘fiday’ – or body double – to Saddam’s son, the notorious “Black Prince” Uday Hussein (also Dominic Cooper), a reckless, sadistic party-boy with a rabid hunger for sex and brutality. With his and his family’s lives at stake, Latif must surrender his former self forever as he learns to walk,...

No less than this generation’s Scarface, Lee Tamahori’s The Devil’s Double is an indie-funded epic about the son of Saddam Hussein and his unwilling look-alike. Both roles are played by British thespian Dominic Cooper with the kind of blind, untamed ambition that people remember, good and bad. Tamahori matches Cooper with glossy, endlessly overwrought direction. There are no strings attached to this production, those with the money apparently leaving Tamahori and his star to run wild. Cooper’s living an actor’s dream: the freedom to play-act in front of the mirror.

Appropriately, young Uday Hussein is the equivalent of a bratty child. His crooked teeth and uncombed hair only add to his fetal mindset. He’s also a psychopath, raping young women (children in some cases) and shooting both friends and enemies only after he’s sliced their Achilles’ tendons apart with a jewel-covered sword. The man who looks like him,...

Damsels in Distress

Opens: 2011

Cast: Adam Brody, Analeigh Tipton, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Ryan Metcalf

Director: Whit Stillman

Summary: The story revolves around a group of style-obsessed college girls who take in a new student (Gerwig) and teach her their misguided ways of helping people at their grungy university.

Analysis: The first film in a decade from arthouse darling Whit Stillman, a filmmaker's filmmaker whose three Manhattan-based, yuppie-themed mannerist comedies - "Metropolitan," "Barcelona" and "The Last Days of Disco" - were a big influence on the likes of auteurs such as Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach. Stillman says this film varies somewhat from his previous trilogy of sorts, telling First Things that "This film is different, Completely different. Okay, not completely different, but it’s different".

Independently financed by Castle Rock CEO Martin Shafer, the project recently wrapped filming in Manhattan where Stillman returned to last year after having spent much...

Damsels in Distress

Opens: 2011

Cast: Adam Brody, Analeigh Tipton, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Ryan Metcalf

Director: Whit Stillman

Summary: The story revolves around a group of style-obsessed college girls who take in a new student (Gerwig) and teach her their misguided ways of helping people at their grungy university.

Analysis: The first film in a decade from arthouse darling Whit Stillman, a filmmaker's filmmaker whose three Manhattan-based, yuppie-themed mannerist comedies - "Metropolitan," "Barcelona" and "The Last Days of Disco" - were a big influence on the likes of auteurs such as Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach. Stillman says this film varies somewhat from his previous trilogy of sorts, telling First Things that "This film is different, Completely different. Okay, not completely different, but it’s different".

Independently financed by Castle Rock CEO Martin Shafer, the project recently wrapped filming in Manhattan where Stillman returned to last year after having spent much...

Continuing our coverage of films that will be featured at the Sundance film festival in January, today we bring you two films that will premiere in the out-of-competition category at the prestigious festival: The Devil’s Double and Life in a Day. The Devil’s Double stars Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier, Mimoun Oaissa, Raad Rawi, and Phillip Quast. The film provides a chilling vision of the House of Saddam, told through the eyes of the man who knew too much. Director Kevin MacDonald’s Life in a Day is a historical worldwide experiment to create the world’s largest user generated film. The flick was created by numerous user-generated YouTube videos that professional and amateur filmmakers made to capture a glimpse of their life in a single day. Hit the jump to check out images and a brief synopsis for both films, which will be playing out-of-competition. The 2011 Sundance Film...

After announcing the 58 films in four categories that would be eligible for awards at Sundance, the film fest has now announced the next 57 movies to be screened this coming January. These 57 films are of course out of competition and will be included in Premieres, Next, Spotlight, New Frontiers and Midnight categories. Most are big name projects from already established filmmakers and some have already made their way around film festival in 2010. The list includes Kevin Smith’s Red State, Tom McCarthy’s Win Win, Morgan Spurlock’s documentary The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Submarine, I Saw the Devil (which had plenty of buzz at Tiff) and my most anticipated film of 2011, Hobo With a Shotgun.

Here is the full list:

Premieres

To showcase the diversity of contemporary independent cinema, the Sundance Film Festival Premieres section offers the latest work from American and international directors as well as world premieres of highly anticipated films.

Tons of high-profile film items for sale with star casts are, as I predicted, making the cut this year in the Premieres section. If I'm not mistaken, Fox Searchlight will use the fest to not only go shopping, but they'll be using Park City to launch Cedar Rapids and Win Win. With yesterday's Comp titles announcement, there appears to be a breakout commentary of an anti-church and anti-religion statement. We have Higher Ground, Martha Marcy May Marlene and we could add George Ratliff's Salvation Boulevard and Kevin Smith's Red State (see pic above) to the same discourse. Cedar Rapids /U.S.A. (Director: Miguel Arteta; Screenwriter: Phil Johnston) A wholesome and naive small-town Wisconsin man travels to big city Cedar Rapids, Iowa to represent his company at a regional insurance conference. Cast: Ed Helms, Sigourney Weaver, Alia Shawkat, John C. Reilly, Rob Corddry, Anne Heche. The Convincer /U.

Following yesterday's announcement of the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions, the Sundance Film Festival has unveiled the second part of their lineup, which includes the more starry-eyed Premieres section, the best-of-fests Spotlight section, the sure-to-be-culty Park City at Midnight section, the low-budget Next section, and the more experimental New Frontier section (an extension of New Frontier Program, the collection of video art installations which has already been noted here for playing James Franco's dramatic multimedia examination of "Three's Company.")

In addition to the return of filmmakers like "Chuck & Buck"'s Miguel Arteta, "Clockwatchers" director Jill Sprecher, Kevin Smith and "The Station Agent"'s Thomas McCarthy to Park City, the festival will also welcome less frequent or first-time Sundance attendees such as Hollywood types Al Pacino ("Son of No One") and Tobey Maguire ("The Details") and mumblecore alums Joe Swanberg ("Uncle Kent," which announced it's been...

Yesterday, when the 2011 Sundance Film Festival announced its full in competition line-up, a few eyebrows were raised about the somewhat surprising lack of star power in the year’s crop of films. Well, today, the festival announced its full out of competition slate, and a cavalcade of bold-faced tumbled forth. For one thing, from Jan. 20 through 30, 2011, Elizabeth Banks is going to be quite busy in Park City, Utah. Some highlights:

Ed Helms, Sigourney Weaver, and John C. Reilly in Cedar Rapids, about a small-town Wisconsin insurance salesman overwhelmed by the big city life at a regional insurance conference in Cedar Rapids,...

The Sundance Film Festival announced the in competition film line-up for the film festival running January 20th through January 30th 2011 in Park City, Utah.

Today the festival has announced the line-up for the non-competition films and there is one hell of a line-up! There are a ton of great films that will be premiering at the festival, and if you're going you have a lot of great films to choose from!

Each film has an incredible cast and a great story. These films include Cedar Rapids, about a man traveling to an insurance conference, featuring Ed Helms, John C. Reilly and Sigourney Weaver; Kevin Smith's Red State, about a group of misfits encounter extreme fundamentalism in Middle America; The Details, about domestic tensions spawned by raccoons with Tobey Maguire, Elizabeth Banks, Laura Linney, Ray Liotta, Dennis Haysbert; I Melt With You, starring Thomas Jane, Jeremy Piven, Rob Lowe, Christian McKay,...